UC | Bridging Disciplines Program

Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality

Bridging Disciplines Programs allow you to earn an interdisciplinary certificate that integrates area requirements, electives, courses for your major, internships, and research experiences.

The Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality BDP allows students to examine the institutions that shape the origins, functions, and effects of the criminal legal system—from policing, to courts, to prisons—in social life. Drawing on insights from sociology, law, history, government, social work, education, and ethnic and gender studies, among other disciplines, students in this BDP will explore different perspectives on the centrality, legitimacy, and impact of the criminal legal system in the United States in its current form, historically, and comparatively. In addition to learning about the system’s form and function, students will learn about research-based approaches to understanding the causes and consequences of individuals’ involvement with the system, with attention to its intersection with race, ethnicity, gender, citizenship, and other categories of identity and the ways in which social inequalities affect and are affected by the system. Students will consider what crime is, how we define crime, and how society responds to behaviors defined as crime.

The Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality BDP helps prepare students to pursue a variety of career paths, whether working directly in parts of the criminal legal system, on policy or advocacy related to the system, or in intersecting fields such as education, social work, or journalism. Through the Connecting Experiences component of the program, students interested in pursuing graduate school or careers related to this topic will benefit from the opportunity to engage in undergraduate research and/or internship experiences related to the criminal legal system.

Upon completion of 19 credit hours from the options listed below, you will earn a certificate in Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality.

METHODS COURSE: Courses marked with “-M” include a focus on Methods. Students are not required to complete a Methods course to complete the certificate, but students planning to pursue advanced degrees may wish to seek out a course with a Methods focus.

Note: Course descriptions available here are from a recent offering of the course, and they may not reflect the description for the next offering of the course.

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Forum Seminar Courses (1 credit hours)

All students in the Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality BDP are required to take the Forum Seminar.

CLJI Forum

BDP 101 Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality

This course introduces students to different theoretical and empirical perspectives on research, policy, and practice issues related to criminal law, justice, and inequality. The course begins with a historical overview of American jurisprudence with specific attention to law, policies, and practices in Texas. Students will be invited to interrogate different theoretical perspectives about crime, surveillance, prosecution, and punishment and consider their contemporary relevance. The course will encourage interactive discussion and attention to policy and practice applications. The course will also encourage students to excercise their critical thinking while developing research skills and capacities. Students will participate in guided learning activities and directed research activities, meeting weekly to define goals, articulate individual and collective objectives, share their learnings, and celebrate progress.

Foundation Courses (3 credit hours)

Foundation Courses introduce key methodologies and issues related to Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality, and examine how social inequality intersects with the criminal legal system. Students take one Forum Seminar and one Foundation Course.

Criminal Law, Justice, and Inequality Foundation Course

MAS 319 POLICE PRISONS INEQUALITY

This course is organized around existing problems in the U.S. criminal legal system and asks students to imagine solutions. There are no right answers to the questions this course raises. There are many possible answers and the goal is to understand the tradeoffs involved with each: what are the new challenges brought about by the solutions we offer for problems as complex as those facing policing, criminal courts, and correctional policy in the United States? We will consider mass incarceration, the war on drugs, judicial discretion, mandatory sentencing, defendant rights, police profiling, sexual assault, gender-based violence, victim’s rights, felon disenfranchisement, the criminalization of immigration, prisoner reentry, school discipline, restorative justice, prison abolition, solitary confinement, and the death penalty. The class centers the experiences of the poor, people of color, women, and LGBTQ people.

SOC 307T PUNISHMENT AND SOCIETY

This course examines the social construction of crime and U.S. society’s responses to it. The course begins with an overview of sociological approaches to deviance, which is rule- or norm-breaking behavior, and social control, or how society prevents us from breaking rules/norms. These frameworks are applied to various components of the U.S. criminal-punishment system, including criminalization, policing, courts, and incarceration. Resistance and social change are also explored. Special attention is paid to how power operates through punishment and (re)produces inequalities at the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, social class, and U.S. citizen status.

SOC 321D DEMOGRAPHY OF CRIME PUNISHMENT

The focus of this course is the study of racial and ethnic differences in crime and punishment. More than 60% of the prison population is comprised of racial and ethnic minorities. This course will examine the leading factors producing the racial disparity in incarceration, focusing on differences in criminal offending across groups as well as differences in treatment by the criminal justice system

SOC 323C POLICING

Examines the purposes and structure of policing and the shifting roles and powers of police officers. Focuses on several critical issues in modern-day policing, including the effectiveness of various police strategies as well as their legitimacy. Considers limits on the ability of the police to control crime, and the ways in which individuals and communities work to police themselves.

SOC 325K CRIMINOLOGY

This course is intended to be a broad introduction to the study of crime and the field of criminology. The course is divided into four main sections. The first part of the course focuses on basic definitions and the empirical understanding of crime, law, and crime trends. The second part details theories and research on the causes of criminal behavior, with an emphasis on sociological theories. The third part covers a range of different types of criminal behaviors. The final section explores the control and prevention of crime, providing a brief introduction to the criminal justice system. We will also cover special topics that relate to contemporary controversies (mostly in the second half of the course). Further, this course will emphasize the importance of understanding criminal law as a foundation for the study of crime.

SOC 325L Sociology of Criminal Justice

This course is in two parts. The first will provide an introduction to the American criminal justice system, its policies and procedures. The primary focus will be on how the criminal justice system functions. This will include some discussion of crime and its correlates, policing, the court system, and corrections. The second part – which in my mind is the whole point -- traces where criminal justice policy has been, what it has accomplished, and where it should go in order to effectively prevent crime and promote public safety, and reduce recidivism, victimization, and cost. The primary focus of where we go from here is mainly on fundamentally changing or reinventing policing, pretrial, prosecution, indigent defense, the courts, and sentencing.

Connecting Experiences (6 credit hours)

Your BDP advisor can help you find internships and research opportunities that connect Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality to your major and interests. We call these opportunities “Connecting Experiences” because they play such an important role in integrating your studies. Each Connecting Experience counts for 3 credit hours. You will need to complete two Connecting Experiences.

For more information and for examples of past Connecting Experiences, visit the BDP website and consult your BDP advisor. BDP students must propose Connecting Experiences to the BDP office. Current BDP students should view the BDP Advising Canvas site for Connecting Experience resources and proposal instructions.

Strand Courses (9 credit hours)

In addition to Foundation Courses and Connecting Experiences, students must complete 9 credit hours of approved Strand Courses from the Social Inequality, Law and Policy, and Application Across Fields categories, to bring their total credit hours toward the BDP certificate to 19 hours. No more than 3 hours of Strand Coursework may come from a Contexts category.

Social Inequality - Emphasis

AFR 370 RACE AND US SOCIAL POLICY

Race is a critical factor that affects the development and implementation of U.S. social policy. While its influence on public policy can be traced to the early colonization of the United States, its relevance continues to be observed in the contemporary period. The relationship between race and social policy is however multi-dimensional. On one hand, perspectives on racial difference can be used to develop policies that create or reinforce social inequality. On the other hand, public policies can be designed to have ameliorative effects that reduce racial and ethnic inequality. This course, therefore, examines how and why race influences various dimensions of U.S. social policy and how U.S social policy influences racial inequality. It begins by reviewing the origins of the development of racial minority status in the United States. Thereafter, it examines policy issues associated with specific domains of social wellbeing (e.g., housing, employment, wealth, the criminal justice system) that are critical for understanding the disadvantage of African Americans and other racial minorities. Where possible, the course draws insights from other societies to examine whether the implications of race for social policy in the United States are unique. Furthermore, it offers opportunities to students for critically thinking through the process of developing rudimentary policy solutions to everyday social problems.

HIS 350R MAPPING RACIAL VIOLENCE TX

Mapping Violence: Racial Terror in Texas, 1900 - 1930 is a research project that aims to expose interconnected histories of violence, the legacies of colonization, slavery, and genocide that intersect in Texas. Although often segregated in academic studies, these histories coalesced geographically and temporally. Students in this course will learn interdisciplinary methods combining historical research methods, theories in public history and ethnic studies, and digital humanities methods to rethink the limits and possibilities of archival research, historical narrative, and methods for presenting findings to public audiences. This research intensive seminar will allow students to develop historical research skills and to contribute original research to the Mapping Violence project.

LAS 322E Latino Migrations and Asylum

Welcome to Latino Migrations and Asylum! In this undergraduate seminar, we will critically examine the contemporary politics, geographies, and practices of Latina/o migration and asylum in the United States. We will begin our discussion in the first half of the semester by contextualizing experiences of Latina/o migration and asylum within the current global migration crisis and the long historical trajectory of political nativism in the United States. During the second half of the semester, we will narrow our focus by examining root causes of Latina/o migration in relation to U.S. foreign policy as well as the varied challenges confronting migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in the United States from the mid-twentieth century through the contemporary period. Causes and consequences of Latino/a migration with respect to El Salvador will serve as important case study in this regard.

MAS 364E POLICING LATINIDAD

How does the criminal justice system make itself felt in the everyday lives of Latinas/os? From border enforcement, to stop and frisk, to the phenomenon of mass incarceration, many Latinas/os find themselves and their communities enmeshed within a dense web of surveillance, punishment, and detention. This interdisciplinary course will examine the historical, political, economic, and social factors that have, in many ways, criminalized Latinidad and/or rendered Latinidad illegal. We will examine how race, class, education, gender, sexuality, and citizenship shape the American legal system and impact how Latinas/os navigate that system. This course will pay special attention to the troubled and unequal relationship between Latinas/os and the criminal justice apparatus in the United States and how it has resulted in the formation of resistant political identities and activist practices

SOC 321D DEMOGRAPHY OF CRIME PUNISHMENT

SOC 323D Border Control/Deaths

Since the 1940s, US control of the Southwest border has remained a major challenge in immigration policy. Border control has become one of the most debated topics in the country, including in federal and state legislative bodies. Annually thousands of unauthorized migrants cross the US-Mexico border into the United States to participate in US labor markets and in other social institutions. Thousands of other migrants also appear at the southwest border to seek asylum. One consequence of unauthorized immigration and of the implementation of border control measures for deterrence has been the deaths of hundreds of migrants annually. Over the years, the deaths have added up into the thousands. The social effects of border control and the occurrence of migrant deaths have become topics investigated by sociologists and other researchers to increase knowledge and understanding of international migration and the effects of border policies.

SOC 325K CRIMINOLOGY

Social Inequality - Contexts

AAS 302 IMMIGRATION AND ETHNICITY

Widely considered a wellspring for U.S. greatness, immigration has also been an abiding site of our deepest conflicts. The republican foundations of the United States with its promises of democracy and equality for all seem to strain against ever increasing numbers of immigrants from parts of the world barely conceived of by the Founding Fathers, much less as sources of new citizens. What is the breaking point for the assimilating powers of U.S. democracy and how much does national vitality rely upon continued influxes of a diversity of immigrants with their strenuous ambitions and resourcefulness? Today we remain embattled by such competing beliefs about how immigration shapes our nation’s well-being and to what ends we should constrain whom we admit and in what numbers. This seminar emphasizes the following themes: the changing population of the United States from colonial times; ethnic cultures, communities, and cuisines; ideologies concerning eligibility for citizenship and for restricting immigration; the development of immigration law as an aspect of sovereign authority; the entwining of immigration policy with international relations; and the evolution of institutions for immigration enforcement.

AAS 330D Black and Asians: Race and Social Movements

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States making up 6% of the American population. With Asians as the largest share of recent immigrants it is important to study the Asian American experience, including Asian interactions with other minority groups. While many Asians are immigrants, people from Asia have a long history in the U.S. The course begins with an overview of Asian and Black history in the U.S. We will trace the historical roots of Asian and Black relations in the U.S. and examine past and present racialization. We will examine key points of collaboration and conflict between Asians and Blacks in American society.

AFR 370 INTERPRETING BLACK RAGE

The story of Black people in the United States has been one of struggle and resilience. James Baldwin once said: “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” This rage is evident in the writings of Baldwin or the films of presentday visionaries like Spike Lee. Expressions of rage can be heard in the vocals Nina Simone and in the fiery lyrics of Tupac Shakur. This state of rage also has manifested itself in the form of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, March on Washington, the Black Power Movement, and Black Lives Matter. Yet the question remains, to some, “why are Black people so mad?” To answer this question, we will examine the residual effects of slavery and its impact on race relations in the U.S. We will also conduct a multimodal exploration of literature, music, and film that convey the sense of rage described by Baldwin. Lastly, we will critique and evaluate expressions of rage in contexts such as politics, media, and the academy

GOV 370K RACE, ETHNICITY AND POLITICS

This course will serve as an introduction to research on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics (REP) in the United States. The course, while mainly focusing on work in political science, will take a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the history of race in America and the political consequences that stem from that history. Students will be introduced to both canonical and contemporary work in the field of REP using a variety of methodological approaches. The course begins by focusing on theoretical conceptions of race and ethnicity and how they inform notions of citizenship and group membership. Subsequent topics focus on issues related to Representation, Racial Attitudes, Campaigns, Elections, Media, Political Participation, Partisanship, and Immigration.

MAS 316 History of Mexican Amers in US

The reading and lecture course examines the historical development of the Mexican community in the United States since 1848, with an emphasis on the period between 1900 and the present. The primary purpose of the course is to address time and place specific variations in the incorporation of the Mexican community as a national minority and bottom segment of the U.S. working class. One of my central concerns is to explain two inter-related historical trends in this incorporation, steady upward mobility and unrelenting social marginalization. I emphasize work experiences, race thinking, social relations, trans-border relations, social causes and larger themes in U.S. history such as wars, sectional differences, industrialization, reform, labor and civil rights struggles, and the development of a modern urbanized society. Also, I incorporate relevant aspects of the history of Latinos, African Americans, and Mexico.

RHE 330D RHETORIC OF LGBTQ+ RIGHTS

In many ways, the history of U.S. LGBTQ+ rights rhetoric shows us kairos in action; the “opportune moment” for argument is on display throughout the 20th and 21st centuries as activists/writers/rhetors move from apologia to radical assertion to critical questioning. This course offers a historical survey of the rhetoric of LGBTQ+ rights over the last 120 years or so, beginning with early sexological descriptions of “inverts” and moving through the mid-century homophile movement, liberation discourse in the 1960s and 1970s, ACT-UP and the Lesbian Avengers in the 1980s and 1990s, and the birth of the modern queer and trans rights movements. Looking at a variety of texts (political, personal, and poetic), we will analyze how power, sex, and writing create a generative rhetorical tension that undergirds much current discussion in U.S. (counter)public spheres.

SOC 322U US Immigration

Immigration patterns have significantly affected the development of U.S. society. No country accepts more immigrants than the United States; yet, the history of US immigration is dotted with policies to restrict immigration. In the 1990s, the United States experienced a record number of new legal immigrants (9.8 million), primarily from Asia and Latin America (Mexico), breaking the 1900 – 1909 record of 8.2 million, and in 2000-2009 the number of immigrants admitted again set a new record (10.3 million), which increased in the 2010s to 10.6 million. But at the same time, the United States has been deporting record numbers of migrants. This course uses a sociological perspective to gain an understanding of the social forces that drive migration to the United States, how migrants organize their migration, and the development of US immigration policies.

SPN 377C JOURNALISM HUMAN RIGHTS AM LAT

Students will learn about the traditional definitions of Human Rights, and the way those definitions have taken shape in the last two decades in Latin America (in comparison with some US cases). They will be exposed to different journalistic narratives (written crónicas, documentaries, podcasts) addressing issues affecting Latin America’s Human rights abuses. The narratives include claims by indigenous peoples, immigrants, relatives of the disappeared, climate-change activists, sexual minorities, women, etc. and explore the way in which each demand is raised. We will study the specific context in which a narrative is created, and the way a given group is recognized (or not) as victim of such abuses. The course is part of the GLOBAL VIRTUAL EXCHANGE program. We will have coordinated sessions with students from Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. The course is designed to offer a global learning environment, in which students are able to have an experience with peers from another part of the world. With their international partners, students will choose a topic of their interest (i. e. indigenous rights, climate change, sexual minorities, migration, etc.) and create a narrative to present in the class.

Law and Policy - Emphasis

AAS 325N ASIAN AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE

In this course we will study critical case law and history pertaining to Asian American jurisprudence, how it has excluded and empowered people, and how the law affects our understanding of race and identity today. The course will also cover critical race theory, law and economics, as well as the advancement of civil rights. Other issues we will study include immigration, politics, and the criminal justice system. How does the law work with our understanding of self and with how others perceive Asian Americans? Students will come out of this course with a nuanced understanding of the important legal cases and issues in Asian American lives in history and be able to engage in an intellectual discourse concerning issues challenging us today.

AFR 370 RACE AND US SOCIAL POLICY

E 343J Literature and Social Justice

What do “humanitarianism” and “human rights” have to do with the humanities? In what ways can literature contribute to a consideration of these pressing questions in the early 21st century? In a globalizing culture, our interest will be both international and domestic, looking at ways in which personal stories contribute to political histories. In focusing on topics of “social justice,” we will consider such questions as environmental justice, women’s rights, children, immigration, and refugees.

J 351F Journalism, Society, & Citizen Journalist

Social and ethical responsibilities; and legal rights and restrictions, including Constitutional guarantees, libel, invasion of privacy, and contempt of court.

MAS 364E POLICING LATINIDAD

RHE 330E 9-RHETORIC AND THE LAW

The image of Justice is often represented as a blindfolded woman holding a scale and double-edged sword. How does this figure function rhetorically, and what relation does it have to law? We often hear about the law doing justice, but how is justice done, seen, and understood? And, what happens when we view law as neither blind nor balanced, especially in relation to social differences, such as gender, race, class, ability, and nationality? To address such questions, the course specifically examines the historical and current relationship between women, as gendered subjects, and law, as a man-made system. Drawing on court cases, social movements, legal theory, and history, we analyze representations of justice, claims of democracy, and ongoing tensions within the law. In other words, we study how legal rhetoric and practice constitute both the law and subjects before the law. The course is also designed to enhance reading and writing skills. Reading may seem to be a straightforward activity requiring no special training, but the analytical reading expected in academic contexts is a skill that must be learned and cultivated. Likewise, analytical writing is an advanced skill that requires instruction and exercise. These activities – reading and writing – are interconnected: to write well, you must be able to analyze the substance and structure of arguments. This course develops skills in these two vital academic areas.

SOC 307D Capital Punishment in America

Why does the United States continue to use the death penalty when nearly every other industrialized Western nation has abolished its use? What explains the persistence of this type of punishment in our society? This course explores capital punishment's past, present and future in America. Using academic sources, as well as journalistic case studies, we will examine how the death penalty is currently implemented in the United States and abroad, study the history of capital punishment in this country, discuss different perspectives that shed light on the issue, and explore the debates regarding the morality, legality and efficacy of the death penalty. The course will study the role that capital punishment plays in American society. Readings and class activities are intended to familiarize students with issues such as the various arguments for and against the death penalty; the changes in public opinion about the subject; the different US Supreme Court decisions on the matter; the influence of race and class in sentencing and executions; the historical legacy of lynching; and the dilemmas posed by the way capital punishment is applied today.

SOC 307T PUNISHMENT AND SOCIETY

SOC 322L LAW AND ORGANIZATIONS

This course examines some of the ways that law governs organizational and workplace life, as well as the ways that organizational practices may affect legal structures. We will focus on through domains in which law and organizational practices intersect. First, laws govern workplace life by specifying prohibited conduct in the workplace. We will explore why the law can dictate workplace practices as well as some common ways that it does so, for example through laws regarding sexual harassment, racial and other forms of discrimination, disability accommodations and workplace safety. Second, employees must make decisions about whether and how to enforce laws in organizations, and we will explore opportunities and barriers to helping organizations be law-abiding, particularly dilemmas about reporting wrongdoing. Finally, we will focus on how organizational practices shape norms in broader society and the ways we look to workplace practices to understand how we should behave. There are no prerequisites, but this class is for upper-division students and will include both writing assignments and exams. Required Texts and Readings McLean, B., & Elkin, P. (2004). The Smartest Guys in the Room. Portfolio Trade. Lau, T. & Johnson, L. (2014). The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business, v 2.0. Lipsky, Michael. ([1980] 2010). Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services. New York: Russel Sage Foundation. Edelman, L B., & Suchman, M.C. (1999). “When the ‘Haves’ Hold Court: Speculations on the Organizational Internalization of Law.” Law & Society Review, 33: 941-991. Albiston, C. (2005). “Bargaining in the Shadow of Social Institutions: Competing Discourses and Social Change in Workplace Mobilization of Civil Rights.” Law & Society Review, 39: 11-50. Hirschman, D., Berrey, E., & Rose-Greenland, F. (2016). “Dequantifying Diversity: Affirmative Action and Admissions at the University of Michigan.” Theory and Society, 45: 265-301.

SOC 323C POLICING

SOC 325L Sociology of Criminal Justice

SOC 336P Social Psychology and the Law

In this course, I aim to give you a broad introduction to how and when the legal system focuses on and uses social science research, especially that from social psychology. I have three specific aims for the course: (1) I want to deepen your understanding of the legal system; (2) I want you to understand what types of legal issues make use of social science and which research methods are used to investigate law and social science questions; and (3) I want you to be able to describe the research and findings to others and to be able to apply your knowledge to other areas. Our primary focus will be on the use of social science by the courts; however, we will also discuss research into other legal areas, such as police procedures and how social science influences (and is influenced by) larger legal policy issues.

Law and Policy - Contexts

AAS 302 IMMIGRATION AND ETHNICITY

BDP 319 Human Rights: Theories and Practice

This course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary study and practices of human rights at home and around the world. Drawing on materials from the humanities, social sciences, law, fine arts, and public policy, the course will engage both historical precedents and contemporary debates over the relevance of a human rights discourse to academic inquiry and extracurricular advocacy. Divided into five sections, the syllabus is designed not only to encourage a broad understanding of human rights’ emergence into current public policy and persistent humanitarian narratives, but to facilitate as well the opportunity to research these concerns through specific topical examples, both issue-oriented and regionally-grounded.

GOV 360S Terrorism and Counterterrorism

This course introduces the topic of terrorism and addresses the core ideas in studies of terrorism. We examine the historical origins of terrorist violence, the primary causes of terrorist acts committed both by opposition and government forces, as well as counterterrorist measures taken by states and international organizations. We also focus on common misunderstandings of terrorism many of which stem from conceptual challenges and distortions in public discourse. Particular emphasis will be placed on transnational dimensions of terrorism and the role it plays in international relations more generally. In addition to cross-national evidence, many specific examples including Chechnya, Israel, Northern Ireland, the United States, and Peru will be considered.

GOV 370K RACE, ETHNICITY AND POLITICS

GOV 371M African-American Women’s Political Activism

This course explores how Black feminism, as a guiding ideology, helps to explain how Black women have navigated the U.S. political system. In particular, this course dissects the roles of race, gender, and class (and their intersection) in shaping African-American women’s orientation towards politics and political participation. In doing so, the course begins with a brief historical overview of the unique political, social, and economic position occupied by Black women in America, followed by an examination of the historical writings of early Black female activists. We will then critically examine the definition of “citizenship” as it relates to American politics and how stereotypes of Black women’s sexuality have historically prevented them from wholly benefiting from full citizenship and equal protection under the law. Next, we explore the impact of Black women’s activism in the areas of criminal justice and the fight against sexual and domestic violence. Lastly, we shift our focus to how these persistent stereotypes influence current policy debates and restrict Black women’s opportunities in electoral politics.

HIS 356P The United States in the Civil Rights Era

This upper-division lecture course allows students to gain deeper understandings of civil rights movements in the U.S. by placing them alongside significant historical developments from World War II to the 1970s such as postwar urbanization, economic change, new media technologies and more. We reassess well-known narratives of the Civil Rights Movement such as those in Black History Month annual commemorations and social studies textbooks. We reexamine the idea of King and Malcolm X as polar opposites and revisit the Montgomery Bus Boycott by taking a critical look at the identity of Rosa Parks as a seamstress too tired to give up her seat and Dr. King as the planner and leader of the boycott. We also explore lesser-known movements that may have involved more than desegregation and voting rights and we use original documents and oral histories to examine local struggles in Texas. That approach allows us to discern activism and perspectives of women and young people. Although the Black Freedom Movement forms the spine of the course we pay significant attention to Mexican American movements, considering the two on their own and in relation to each other. How many current UT students realize that 50 years ago Black, Mexican American, and white students demanded an end to what they considered racist practices here? By considering not only what people did, but their motivations and perspectives in specific historical contexts, we open possibilities for new understandings of today.

MAS 308 Intro to Mex Amer Policy Stds

An introduction to the basics of policy analysis, employing demographic and empirical information on the Mexican American and Latino populations in the United States. Current policy issues such as bilingual education, affirmative action, the English-only movement, immigration, Latino consumers, Latino entrepreneurship, and NAFTA.

PHL 318K INTRO TO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

This course is an Introduction to Political Philosophy, a field that studies the fundamental principles on which societies should be organized. We will read a range of historical and contemporary thinkers who have addressed these issues. We will compare and contrast their positions and arguments, and students will be encouraged to formulate their own positions on the issues raised by the readings. We will focus across the term on the some of the philosophical ideas that have loomed largest in Americans’ understandings and assessments of the American system of government.

PHL 342 1-NATURAL LAW THEORY

“Natural law” refers to moral law – in particular, the fundamental moral principles that are built into the design of human nature and lie at the roots of conscience. Natural law thinking is the spine of the Western tradition of ethical and legal thought. The founders of the American republic also believed in the natural law -- in universal and "self-evident" principles of justice and morality which the Declaration of Independence called "the laws of Nature and of Nature's God." For generations afterward, most Americans took the reality of natural law for granted. Thomas Jefferson appealed to it to justify independence; Abraham Lincoln appealed to it to criticize slavery; Martin Luther King appealed to it to criticize Jim Crow laws. You would hardly guess any of this from the present day, because belief in natural law has come to be viewed as "politically incorrect." Nevertheless, the tradition of natural law is experiencing a modest renaissance. Is there really a natural law? What difference does it make to society and politics if there is? Is it really "natural"? Is it really "law"? To consider these questions, we will read a variety of influential works on natural law from the middle ages to the present. Probably, most of your liberal arts education has implicitly rejected the whole idea, but in this course, for a change, you have an opportunity to hear the other side. We will focus on the classical natural law tradition, not revisionist versions such as the one promoted by the social contract writers of the early modern period. The first two units of the course focus on the ethical and legal thought of the most important and influential classical natural law thinker in history, Thomas Aquinas. He is a difficult writer, but we will work through his Treatise on Law carefully and I will provide lots of help. In the final unit, which is about the continuing influence of the classical natural law tradition, we will read a number of authors including Thomas Jefferson, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices John McLean and Benjamin Curtis, Abraham Lincoln, Justin Buckley Dyer, Martin Luther King, C.S. Lewis, John Hittinger, Robert C. Koons, Matthew O’Brien, and myself.

R S 353K LAW JUSTICE IN THE BIBLE

In this course, you will examine the legal traditions of the Hebrew Bible found in the Torah (Pentateuch) and what they reveal about the practice of law and justice in ancient Israel and the biblical world. You will also explore the law and legal systems of the broader ancient Near East in order to see how the biblical traditions relate to ideas and practices attested in other societies in the region. In addition, you will consider theories of ethics and justice and try to solve specific ethical problems—both ancient and modern—in order to gain experience in practical ethical reasoning. You will engage with topics such as marriage, family structures, litigation, debt, slavery, homicide, theft, false accusation, sexual behavior, contracts, and other matters. In the end, you will acquire an awareness of how various biblical traditions developed over time to form the foundation for later rabbinic and Christian ethical thought.

Application Across Fields - Emphasis

BDP 319 Human Rights: Theories and Practice

CMS 340K Communication and Social Change

-M

Analysis of how persuasion is used in mass movements: civil rights, consumerism, feminism, pacifism, religious sects.

CMS 356C Collective Action

-M

Collective action is a fundamental part of our social behavior and refers to any process whereby groups of people attempt to make decisions and act towards a common good. Collective action covers a vast field and include both collaborative and contentious forms of social action. Two interrelated factors have irrevocably changed how we view collective action: globalization and digitization. In this class, students will obtain insight into how globalization and technology have impacted how we organize and communicate to achieve better collective outcomes about the public good. It will review a range of perspectives on collective action, and examine communicative elements of collective action in a variety of global contexts, focusing on India and New Zealand as global contexts in the last portion of the course.

I 310J INTRO SOCIAL JUSTICE INFORMTCS

In this course, you will "explore the leveraging of data, information, and technology for the greater benefit of society and to help ensure a level playing field for everyone in the information age." This course considers how justice theories can inform how data and evidence, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and communities are shaped by and can respond to implicit and explicit biases against historically excluded populations. It also critically reflects on existing orientations towards social justice with its commitments to punitive sanctions, and examines alternative approaches like restorative and transformative justice, which advocate for systems of accountability. Transformative justice seeks to replace harmful and ineffective institutions by developing social programs and creating alternative structures that center care, accountability, and healing. Organizational challenges include recognizing and proactively addressing racism, gender discrimination, and other forms of inequity in professional and academic environments. Many aspects of discrimination have long and deep histories. They have become structural, or part of a self-reproducing cycle. But it is important to recognize that they are not normal or natural, but instead the result of a history of injustice. While this course, in its singularity, cannot eradicate all systems of oppression, this course seeks to equip students with the knowledge, critical thinking and evaluative skills necessary to better understand how systems of oppression disempower minoritized groups. We will explore human flourishing to counterbalance trauma-laden research and design practices often associated with minoritized groups. This course will help students acknowledge the full humanity of groups that have conventionally been reduced to deficits. The field of informatics - which includes information technology, data, and evidence in all its forms - has an incredible impact on society these days, both explicitly and implicity. The potential benefits are great but so are its risks, especially if not enough attention is paid to its impacts on everyone, irrespective of race, class, gender, religion, geographic location, native language, etc. Discrimination is both a technical, organizational, and systemic challenge. We will attempt to answer questions such as the learning outcomes below by exploring specific steps of the design and implementation process as well as various methodological and theoretical approaches.

S W 310 INTRO TO SOCL WORK & SOCL WELF

This is an introductory social work course in which you will learn about the profession of social work, its history, and the roles the profession plays in addressing social welfare responses to human needs in the United States. Using a social justice lens, the course will explore being a social worker and the ways that laws, policies, and ethics guide social work practice and impact the clients and communities that social workers serve. You will learn about and apply frameworks used by social workers that emphasize diversity and equity in social work practice to address social welfare issues. You also will be introduced to generalist social work practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Identities and statuses that make individuals and communities targets of oppression will be studied within the context of social work. You will have the opportunity to assess your identities, strengths, and challenges and identify potential ethical conflicts in working directly with people. This course carries the flag for Cultural Diversity in the United States. The purpose of the Cultural Diversity in the United States Flag is for students to explore in depth the shared practices and beliefs of one or more underrepresented cultural groups subject to persistent marginalization. In addition to learning about these diverse groups in relation to their specific contexts, students should engage in an active process of critical reflection. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one underrepresented cultural group in the U.S.

S W 323K Social Welfare Prog, Pol, and Issues

Study of structure and function of service delivery systems, policy analysis, and effects and influences of policy on practice and planning decisions.

Application Across Fields - Contexts

HIS 307P A History of Violence, from 1500 to the Present

This course will use violence as an analytic category to study the last 500 years of history. Historians typically use this period to explain the rise of the state, capitalism, modernity, or even the “rise of the West.” Instead, this course deploys this block of time to understand violence, examining how violence acts as a force shaping history. Violence can be difficult to describe and locate, and this course will not propose a closed definition of violence. Instead it uses an interrogative and open-ended approach, one that begins with a tentative understanding of violence as a practice inherent to certain social formations. In this way we approach racism, anti-Semitism, class and gender violence. It will also pay attention to the modern state and its monopolization of violence through the police and law, which reduced violence such as crime. At the same, the modern state unleashed historically unprecedented killing in the world wars and genocides of the twentieth century. The course will also seek to understand violence outside of its physical forms, such as that existing in language and gender norms, as well as the “slow violence” of poverty and environmental degradation. Ultimately, the course seeks to better locate the relationship between violence and power as it reveals itself in history, and to consider the inherent ethical and political problems posed by violence. Thus, political violence and the choice of violence in war, civil wars, revolutions, and revolts will be of particular concern.

SED 322C Individual Differences

The purpose of this class is to learn, discuss, and evaluate topics related to disability. This course is designed to discuss issues related to cultural and linguistically diverse individuals with disabilities at the elementary and secondary school level. Cultural and linguistic competency ensures the proper use of culturally responsive teaching, improves cross-cultural communication skills, promotes more efficient parent/student-teacher relationships and overall increases sociocultural awareness

Integration Essay

A 3-4 page essay in which you reflect on what you learned and accomplished through your BDP experience.

Important Notes on Fulfilling Your BDP Requirements

PREREQUISITES: Some courses may have prerequisites. Please consult your BDP advisor to determine your eligibility for enrolling in specific courses.
CROSS-LISTINGS: Note that many courses on this list may be cross-listed with other departments. You may take these courses under any of the cross-listed numbers. Please consult the course schedule or your BDP advisor for cross-listing information.
GRADES AND GPA REQUIREMENTS: In courses taken for a letter grade, you must obtain a grade of C- or better to meet BDP requirements. The cumulative GPA of all courses counting toward your BDP certificate must be at least 2.0.
PASS/FAIL: Only one BDP course, including connecting experience courses, may be taken pass/fail. Any exceptions will be considered by the faculty panel on an individual basis.
SIGNATURE COURSES: Many of the First-Year Signature Courses (UGS 302 and UGS 303) that include significant content related to Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality may also count toward your certificate; please consult your BDP advisor for more information.
PETITIONS: You may be able to count courses toward your BDP certificate that do not appear on this curriculum sheet, if enough of the course content relates to your BDP topic. Please consult your BDP advisor if you would like to petition for a course to count toward your BDP. See the BDP calendar for fall and spring petition deadlines. Current BDP students can find the petition form on their MyBDP dashboard.

For more information on courses, please consult your BDP advisor (bdp@austin.utexas.edu) or the course schedule.